Monday, 28 January 2013

Benjy the Blanket Buddy

Let me introduce you to Benjy.Benjy is a mischievous little monster made from scraps of yarn left over from Jake's stripy blanket.

I had been planning on knitting up a Rebecca Danger design for a while, after picking up her Knitted Monster Nursery book on Amazon. There are some really cute knits in the book, and her little son's nursery must look amazing! I haven't got nearly enough time to knit a whole nursery, but one of the monster toys I can stretch to.
I chose the Vinny V pattern, knitted in the Hayfield Bonus dk I had leftover, about 3/4 of each ball. As it turns out, I still have leftovers - Vinny doesn't use much yarn. I named him Benjy the Blanket Buddy because I intended him to be used for snuggling when Jake is all wrapped up in his blanket. I'm sure one day little J will rename him though.
Benjy literally flew off the needles - he is such an easy knit, and knitting all the pieces in the round meant there was next to no making up to do. Even then, I put it off for a few days - sewing up is never as fun as the knitting.

Probably my favourite bit was giving Benjy his face. I couldn't use safety eyes or felt teeth because my 6 month old would chew those right off, so I made some knotted yarn eyes, made famous by Jean Greenhowe, and embroidered the teeth on using a double thickness of white dk yarn.
I am absolutely over the moon with how Benjy turned out - he looks like he has a real personality, and Jake has played with, or should I say chewed, him lots. Hopefully he will be tough enough to last - at least he is made from washable yarn and stuffing, something I can see being quite useful in the future!

About Me

I am a history teacher in a big secondary school in Coventry. I teach kids about executing royalty, trench warfare and how to make lovely tea-stained pieces of work to staple to the classroom walls! I live with my husband, baby son and three little cats. I am a naturally creative person and discovered scrapbooking mid 2006. I was amazed (and proud!) to win Best of British New Talent for 2007. I was even more amazed to become part of the Design Team for Scrapbook Inspirations magazine in 2009. These days I am also doing a lot of knitting - easier to pick up and put down when you are busy!